Teacher and Principal Quality – Broader BOLDER Approach to Education

Blogs on challenges and successes for effective teaching

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 19:39:28 +0000

In “Fiscal Crisis” or Physical Crisis?, Elizabeth Hoyson recounts the stark mismatch between the skills she acquired during her six-week urban teaching fellow boot camp and the deep-seated academic and emotional needs of the 80 eighth graders she was assigned, whose failure to receive a basic education included a dearth of veteran educators.
In Crunching Test Scores Isn’t Enough, veteran DCPS high school math teacher David Tansey explains how the afterschool club he started for his tenth grade African-American students is critical to engaging them in his classroom and making school meaningful.

BBA case studies on the school as community

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 19:37:22 +0000

Teachers and students alike do better when school systems are able to ensure that all children’s social, emotional, physical, and mental health needs are met. BBA case studies illustrate a range of benefits as well as challenges to scaling up and sustainability in diverse districts across the country, while rigorous evaluations document benefits of particular initiatives:

Making the Grade: Assessing the Evidence for Integrated Student Supports (Child Trends)

Learning to Improve: How America’s Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 19:33:35 +0000

As part of its work to advance system-level improvement, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching produced Learning to Improve: How America’s Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better, a 2015 report that offers a new “learn fast and implement well” approach to successfully scale up promising instructional practices and other education reforms.

School leadership is critical to great teaching

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 19:32:30 +0000

School leadership is increasingly recognized as another critical factor to drawing and retaining great teachers and improving their individual and joint efforts.

The Wallace Foundation’s work to demonstrate how school leadership can improve teaching and learning includes The School Principal As Leader: Guiding Schools to Better Teaching and Learning, a 2013 report that describes the characteristics of effective school principals and identifies five practices as key to their work.
As part of the U.S Department of Education’s RESPECT initiative (Recognizing Education Success, Professional, Excellence, and Collaborative Teaching), in 2013, the Center on Great Teachers & Leaders at the American Institutes for Research published A Blueprint for R.E.S.P.E.C.T, outlining a 7-part consensus plan for transforming the teaching profession.

Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ): teacher leadership

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 19:29:58 +0000

The Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) goes beyond teacher voice and engagement to cultivate teachers’ active leadership in order to develop innovative ways to improve teaching and learning.

In a recent blog post, Barnett Berry examines the emerging trends of “teacher-powered schools,” Why teacher-powered schools are picking up momentum.
The Center is also part of the 100-plus member strong Coalition for Teaching Quality, which advances equitable pathways to ensuring prepared and effective teachers for every child.

SCOPE reports on using data to improve instruction

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 19:28:17 +0000

Using data well to improve instruction and ensuring time for teacher collaboration are central to comprehensive school improvement efforts.

This 2016 report by the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) and SCOPE aims to help California’s schools best utilize professional learning money to support learning around the newly adopted state academic standards: Maximizing The Use of New State Professional Learning Investments to Support Student, Educator, and School System Growth.
SCOPE also provides a guide to continuous instructional improvement, Mapping The Development of Conditions for Collaborative Learning in School Communities of Practice.

Developing Effective Communities of Practice Using The National Board Certification Process.

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 19:25:18 +0000

The Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) produced Developing Effective Communities of Practice Using The National Board Certification Process.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards research brief

Don Long — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 19:23:54 +0000

Since 1987, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has sought to advance the quality of teaching and learning by maintaining high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do.

This research brief, The Proven Impact of Board-Certified Teachers on Student Achievement, highlights the benefits of having a Board-certified teacher based on research from states and districts across the country.